LibGuides: Public Policy and Leadership: Welcome Master's & Doctoral Students!

Library Orientation PowerPoint

Fall 2024 Orientation Slides

Video Tutorials

Welcome!

Welcome to the Master's & Doctoral Public Policy Resource Guide!

Your UNLV ACE account can be used on the library website to access online library materials including databases, journal articles, and streaming videos.

To begin, view the UNLV Libraries tutorials.

Need more help? Contact your librarian, Susie Skarl: susie.skarl@unlv.edu

The Inquiry Process

Public Policy-Related Databases

UNLV Libraries Quick Search

PAIS International This link opens in a new window
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1972-
Index to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general.
From the Public Affairs Information Service, this database provides access to the literature of public policy, social policy, and the social sciences in general. It includes records from journals, books, conference proceedings, research and government reports, and directories.
EBSCO Databases This link opens in a new window
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More than 30 databases indexing all subject areas with a heavy focus on business, education, film, health, psychology, sociology, and sports.
Lists more than 30 databases available through the EBSCOhost interface. The databases index all subject areas with solid coverage of business, education, film, health, psychology, sociology, and sports. For each database there is a description of the content and some link to a Title List of indexed journals. The databases contain full text articles and link to more articles. Choose a single database to search or select multiple databases and search them simultaneously
Education Full Text This link opens in a new window
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1996-
Full text journal articles in education published after 1996. Limited to 20 simultaneous users.
Education Full Text indexes, abstracts and supplies the full text of articles from education-related English-language periodicals and yearbooks published in the United States and elsewhere. English-language books relating to education published in 1996 or later are also indexed. Abstracts are available for items published 1994-1996. Subjects include: Adult Education, Arts, Athletics, Comparative Education, Competency-based Education, Computers in Education, Continuing Education, Educational Technology, Elementary Education, Government Funding, Higher Education, Instructional Media, Language Arts, Library Science, Literacy Standards, Multicultural/Ethnic Education, Parent-Teacher Relations, Prayer in Public Schools, Preschool Education, Religious Education, School Administration, Science and Mathematics, Secondary Education, Special Education, Student Counseling, Teacher Education, Teacher Evaluation, Teaching Methods, Vocational Education
Academic Search Premier This link opens in a new window
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Searchable articles from academic and professional journals and magazines covering every academic discipline.
Update frequency: Updated daily
This excellent one-stop resource lets you search citations and summaries by keyword and then instantly retrieve the full text of articles from journals online. The Get Text button helps you locate any article without linked full text in alternate online sources or in UNLV's print journal collection.
International Security & Counter-Terrorism Reference Center This link opens in a new window
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International Security & Counter Terrorism Reference Center provides access to over 2,500 full-text resources related to security and threat analysis, including articles, news feeds, reports, books and summaries covering regional conflict, terrorism, domestic security and risk management options.
SocINDEX with Full Text This link opens in a new window
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1895-
Indexes the literature of sociology and related disciplines.
Includes full text for selected journals, monographs, and conference papers and contains full text for over 325 journals dating back to 1895. Encompasses all subdisciplines of sociology, including abortion, anthropology, criminology, criminal justice, marriage & family, politics, religion, rural sociology, social psychology, social structure, social work, sociological theory, sociology of education, substance abuse, urban studies, and many others.
ProQuest One Academic This link opens in a new window
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ProQuest One Academic brings together a variety of databases to provide access to a diverse and multidisciplinary research collection.
The database provides access to ProQuest Central, Academic Video Online, Academic Complete and ProQuest Dissertation and Theses Global. Users will have access to journal articles, streaming media, ebooks and dissertations and theses from all major subject areas, including business, health and medical (including nursing), social sciences, arts and humanities, education, science, engineering and religion.
Dissertations and Theses This link opens in a new window
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citations 1861-; abstracts 1980-; full text 1997-
Full text of most dissertations produced after 1997; citations and abstracts for others.
Update frequency: Updated quarterly
ProQuest Dissertations and Theses contains over 1.5 million entries, providing citations to North American and European dissertations from 1861 forward, with abstracts from 1980 forward. It also provides citations and abstracts for theses from 1988 forward. Full text of UNLV theses and dissertations available from 1996 to the present. Full text from all other institutions available from 1997 to the present.
Scopus This link opens in a new window
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1960-
Scopus is an index to peer-reviewed scientific, medical, technical, and social science literature.
Scopus also features a citation index, allowing you to find the papers that cite a specific piece of research.
ABI/INFORM Collection This link opens in a new window
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1923-
Articles and reports in advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers and information on 25 million companies.
Update frequency: Updated weekly
Scope: International
Languages: English
Primarily a database for retrieving journal articles but allows for searching by company in the advanced search section. The ABI/INFORM Complete database offers searchable full text of more than 6,800 of the leading business and management journals in North America and the world. Coverage is international and includes advertising, marketing, economics, human resources, finance, taxation, computers, and more. Also compiles information on 25 million companies!
Business Source Elite This link opens in a new window
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Scholarly journals and business periodicals covering management, economics, finance, accounting, and international business along with company profiles and SWOT analyses.
The database also includes company profiles of the world’s 10,000 largest companies providing SWOT analysis for many companies.
Las Vegas Review Journal (NewsBank) This link opens in a new window
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1996-
Full text of articles, not including images.
US Newsstream This link opens in a new window
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1980s-
Searchable current and recent articles from newspapers, including Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, New York Times and the Wall Street Journal.
Full text of articles from major national newspapers: The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, The Boston Globe, Chicago Tribune, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, USA Today. Also included are the New York Times Book Review, the New York Times Magazine, and the Las Vegas Review Journal.
Dissertations and Theses: UNLV This link opens in a new window
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Full text of most UNLV dissertations produced after 1997; citations and abstracts for others.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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An archive of more than 700 important scholarly journals covering business, ecology, education, ethnic studies, history, literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, and sociology with content ending 3-5 years ago
JSTOR digitally archives more than 700 scholarly journals. Subjects include African-American studies, anthropology, Asian studies, business, ecology, economics, education, finance, history, literature, mathematics, music, philosophy, political science, and more.

Sage Research Policy Planner

SAGE Research Methods This link opens in a new window
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SAGE Research Methods has tools and content to help design research projects, plan a study, learn methodological approaches, gather data, and understand findings.
A full-text collection of real social research case studies is incorporated to help understand abstract methodological concepts in practice. Datasets from both international and national sources accompanied by how-to guides covering numerous quantitative and qualitative research methods are included. SRM contains more than 600 books, dictionaries, encyclopedias, journal articles, videos, and handbooks as well as the entire Little Green Book (quantitative) and Little Blue Book (qualitative) series. A taxonomy of over 1400 methods terms is featured along with a Methods Map which visualizes relationships among methods terms, concepts, people, and literature. Since SAGE Research Methods focuses on methodology rather than disciplines, it can be used across the social sciences, health sciences, and more.

Learn Effective Database Searching Strategies

Learn Effective Database Search Strategies

(The following are suggestions to improve your search results)

Use different search terms or key words

Try using other words to describe your topic, it will give you better results.

Examples: urban and leadership, cities and administration, metropolitan

Truncation or wildcard (*)

This will locate alternate endings for your search term.

Example - gov* to find government, governments, governmental, etc.

Note: Some databases use different symbols; consult the help page for the correct symbol

Try different databases

Each database contains unique material, so searching a different database may yield more relevant research.

Help page

Each database has a page with tips to help you effectively search that resource.

Tips for Searching on Google Scholar

A note about Google Scholar . . .

Although Google Scholar contains many resources, it does not contain access to all relevant resources for hospitality research. Researchers are strongly encouraged to look at the additional resources mentioned above to conduct a thorough literature review. You do not need to purchase articles via Google Scholar many are available for through the UNLV Libraries or via Interlibrary Loan.

For help connecting to UNLV Libraries' resources through Google Scholar see the following tip sheet on the link below:

Google Scholar Settings

Finding Federal, State, and Local Government Information

Using Google: Type in your keywords then add site:.gov to limit your results to government-related resources.
Example: "no child left behind" site:.gov

UNLV Libraries Government Information Portal
Portal to federal, state, and local gov info, in addition to resources by subject.

Congressional Publications (ProQuest Congressional) This link opens in a new window
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1789-
U.S. legislative information, including access to many full-text Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more. Includes the U.S. Serial Set.
Comprehensive access to U.S. legislative information, including access to many full-text Congressional publications, bills, laws, regulations, committee information, and more. Additionally, searchers can retrieve CIS Legislative Histories for public laws. Contains an index of congressional publications from 1789 to the present and locate information about members and committees. Statutes at Large and Congressional Indexes from 1789-1969 are included.
CQ Magazine This link opens in a new window
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1983-
Comprehensive roundup of virtually all Capitol Hill activity from the previous week.
Excellent source of current information on hot legislative topics in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate.
CQ Press Library This link opens in a new window
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Resources on public policy and American government, including deep dives into hot topics for policymakers in CQ Researcher Plus Archive and brief legislative analysis in the CQ Magazine (formerly CQ Weekly).
Technical Report Archive and Image Library (TRAIL) This link opens in a new window
Search U.S. government technical reports issued prior to 1975.
Digitized reports from the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, U.S. National Bureau of Standards, and the U.S. Bureau of Mines Bulletin. Digitization is ongoing. Reports are being added constantly. Additional government agencies will be included.

Think Tanks

A think tank or policy institute is a research institute which performs research and advocacy concerning topics such as social policy, political strategy, economics, military, technology, and culture. Although many think tanks claim to be neutral, some may be considered to have a more conservative or a more liberal agenda. For example, the Cato Institute is a libertarian think tank and the Heritage Foundation is considered to be conservative. Be sure to examine the "About the Organization" page, in addition to outside sources to investigate the organization's agenda and their political views.

Think Tank Search--Harvard: From Harvard's Kennedy School of Government library; custom Google search + list of hundreds of US and international think tanks.

Think tanks are defined by the above as institutions affiliated with universities, governments, advocacy groups, foundations, non-governmental organizations, and businesses that generate public policy research, analysis, and activity.

Tips: Search these selected think tanks by keywords to find research and analysis.
If one seems most relevant to your topic, go to the home page and mine the site for publications, issues, research, and links to other organizations.

Brookings: Brookings conducts research and education in the social sciences, primarily in economics, metropolitan policy, governance, foreign policy, and global economy and development.
Urban Institute: he Urban Institute is a Washington D.C.-based think tank that carries out economic and social policy research to "open minds, shape decisions, and offer solutions."
RAND.org: RAND's research and analysis address issues that impact people around the world including security, health, education, sustainability, growth, and development.
New America: New America, formerly the New America Foundation, is a non-partisan think tank in the United States. It focuses on a range of public policy issues, including national security studies, technology, asset building, health, gender, energy, education, and the economy.
Mathematica Policy Research: "Mathematica Policy Research is a pioneering nonpartisan research organization dedicated to improving public well-being."
MDRC: MDRC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization based in New York City and Oakland, CA.
The Human Rights Campaign: "The Human Rights Campaign is America's largest civil rights organization working to achieve lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer equality."
The Children's Defense Fund: "The Children’s Defense Fund Leave No Child Behind® mission is to ensure every child a Healthy Start, a Head Start, a Fair Start, a Safe Start and a Moral Start in life and successful passage to adulthood with the help of caring families and communities."
Center for Law & Social Policy: "The Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) is a national, nonpartisan, nonprofit organization advancing policy solutions for low-income people."

Finding Data & Statistics

To obtain official data sources on Google, remember to type in site:.gov after your keywords. Search example: "teen pregnancy statistics" site:.gov

UNLV Libraries Data & Statistics Portal

Sage Data This link opens in a new window
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Provides access to the extensive Data-Planet repository of standardized and structured statistical data.
Through a single platform, users can search and browse 25 billion data points in over 4.3 billion datasets sourced from over 75 authoritative government and private sources. The platform’s powerful functionality allows users to manipulate datasets, compare multiple indicators, chart trends over time and spatially represent data without requiring additional software programs. Multiple export options are provided. For more information on specific datasets and how to use Data-Planet, visit the Data-Planet LibGuide
ICPSR This link opens in a new window
The Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research (ICPSR) is an organization of member institutions working together to: acquire and preserve social science data; provide open and equitable access to these data; and promote effective data management.
Users must have an account with ICPSR to download datasets.

To register, you must be affiliated with UNLV, which is a member institution of ICPSR, and you must access the site from a recognized UNLV IP address.

Register for an account from off campus (you will be prompted to login with your ACE account or activated RebelCard barcode and PIN).
Statista This link opens in a new window
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Statista provides statistical data from thousands of institutions and sources. It provides access to data from market and opinion research institutions, as well as from business organizations and government agencies.
Statista includes data on more than 85,000 topics from 18,000 sources. About 20 percent of the total data in Statista comes from sources available free online, such as the World Bank and the U.S. Census, but the data also includes numerous exclusive sources which include industry, marketing, and trade groups. Much of the data is related to marketing, demographic, government and industry information, and is international in scope. Data can be downloaded in JPG, PowerPoint and Excel.
WRDS This link opens in a new window
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Limited to UNLV affiliated users. Users must request an account.The Wharton Research Data Service provides World Wide Web access to CRSP, ISSM and Global Insight (Basic Economics).

APA Style Resources

APA 7th Overview Handout
Handout covering the basics of APA style - 7th Edition. (created by Samantha Godbey, Education Librarian)
APA Overview
PPT (updated for 7th Edition), including potentially tricky examples such as book chapters and secondary citations. (created by Samantha Godbey, UNLV Education Librarian)

APA 7th Edition Quick Reference Guide
From APA, color-coded explanation of journal, book, and book chapter references (pdf).
APA 6th/7th Comparison Chart
Side by side comparison of the two editions, created by a librarian at East Carolina University.
Purdue Online Writing Lab (OWL) - APA Style Guide
This is a dependable site for APA questions. Look for their Sample Paper, too.

Other Resources:

APA Style and Grammar Guidelines
From APA: Detailed instructions and examples from the 7th edition
Tutorial: Basics of Seventh Edition APA Style
from APA
Free DOI Lookup Tool
Provides a DOI for an article citation when one is available.
Is it Plagiarism Yet? (Purdue OWL)
Explains when to give credit to another person for their intellectual work (and how to do it correctly). Look for the "Quoting, Paraphrasing, and Summarizing" section on the left for examples of each.

Resources for APA 6th Edition (Old Edition as of 2020):

APA 6th Edition Handout
Samantha's handout covering the basics of APA style - 6th Edition. Use only if your instructor says to still use the older edition!

Journal Citation & Analysis Tools

Use the following resources to track citations, including by author, number of articles cited, number of articles published, etc.

Social Sciences Citation Index: The Social Sciences Citation Index ® (SSCI ®) provides access to current and retrospective bibliographic information, author abstracts, and cited references found in over 1,700 of the world's leading scholarly social sciences journals covering more than 50 disciplines.

Scopus
Scopus also features a citation index, allowing you to find the papers that cite a specific piece of research.

Google Scholar
On your first visit, go to Google Scholar Preferences and use the Library Links box to set UNLV as your source for no-fee access to many full text articles. For answers to questions about Google Scholar, check out the FAQ. Note: To access and retrieve full-text materials owned by the UNLV Libraries, click on the options wheel in the top right corner of the page and select "Scholar Settings". Next, click on "Library Links" in the left side of the page. Search for the "University of Nevada, Las Vegas Libraries". Select the check box next to our name and click save at the bottom of the page to apply the changes. The next time you search for resources a "UNLV Find Text" link will appear next to articles that you can access via the Libraries.

RefWorks!

What is RefWorks?
RefWorks is a web-based bibliographic software package that enables you to:

Organize your research
Create a bibliography in a variety of citation styles, including APA, MLA and Chicago
Import references from many data sources
Create bibliographies in different document formats (Word, RTF, HTML, etc.)
Include citations while you write your paper

"New" RefWorks Instructions

New RefWorks tutorials (YouTube)

RefWorks This link opens in a new window
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Bibliography manager saves your citations and formats them into APA, MLA, or other styles.
This web-based bibliography manager lets you save citations to journal articles, books, web sites and more into your personal online database. You'll be able to quickly link to online articles, organize and share your references, and automatically create formatted bibliographies in all the major citation formats, including APA, MLA, and Chicago styles. Off-campus users, see the Using RefWorks at UNLV page for special instructions.

Public Policy and Leadership